Waterstones Synopsis:

Maggie is forty-three years old and looking for romance. She loves her husband, but his idea of romance is a couple of drinks at the local and an early night at home. Her children think she’s too old to care, but a chance meeting changes all that.

This is a Quick Read Book and is less than 100 pages long. It is chick-lit and enjoyable, but in my opinion it is too short. The story follows Maggie who is getting fed up with life, and soon she snaps.

To be honest, this is OK but it is not long enough so it was hard to connect with the characters. I felt sorry for Maggie but I didn’t get to know her very well and I didn’t get to know her family. The Quick Reads are a good idea for someone to dip into reading but as someone who loves to read I was left wanting more.

I like O’Flanagan as an author. She is engaging and fun, and she is a great chick-lit author. Other books of hers that I have read I really enjoyed. If this was made into a full length novel it would be a good read.

If you want a short book to read, a nice girly book this will do, but it not amazing.

A flick through some blogs  took me to the Chick Lit Reviews site where I discovered this exciting piece of news:

Headline has signed a three-book deal with Sheila O’Flanagan, continuing a partnership that extends over 15 novels and two short story collections.

Headline’s director of publishing Marion Donaldson conducted the deal for British Commonwealth rights with Carole Blake of Blake Friedmann.

Headline is already due to publish three O’Flanagan titles this year—the paperback edition of The Perfect Man, a new hardback Stand By Me and a collection of Christmas-themed short stories called A Season to Remember.

The new titles will be published in 2012–14. Donaldson said: “I couldn’t be more delighted. Sheila is a wonderful writer, writing warm, wise and unputdownable novels about families, relationships, friendship and love, and charming readers and retailers alike both through her books and in person.

“We are very proud to be her publisher, and look forward to many more successful years of partnership.”

(Taken from the Bookseller.)

I like O’Flanagan and am pleased about this. How about you?

Reviews I have written:

Yours, Faithfully

Destinations

Waterstones Synopsis:

Iona’s not pregnant. It’s a blow, but she knows that when husband Frank gets home he’ll reassure her that their dream of a family together will come true. Sally, on the other hand, has just discovered that she’s very much pregnant. Which is quite a surprise, with her only child now a seventeen-year-old. And Sally’s not sure how her husband’s going to feel about it, when he gets home. Except Frank’s not going to get home – to either of his wives. Frank’s bigamy of several years is about to be exposed, because Frank was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now his wives are going to meet in the hospital where he lies in a coma. And everything is about to change for all of them…

I was surprised to enjoy this book as much as I did. At first the story seemed familiar to me but as it unfolded that feeling changed. The book follows Iona and Sally – two different women but who share the same husband – Frank. He is using a bathroom in a pub when the wall collapses and he is seriously injured. The result is that he is left in a coma for months – leaving Sally and Iona to discover the truth.

This is a big book – over 600 pages; but the story flew off the page. I loved the characters and the story had a great plot. This is chick-lit but of the highest quality. There is a bit of crime, there is anger and hate, and of course love, friendship and resolutions. I liked both Sally and Iona, although at the beginning found myself siding with Sally. I felt real empathy at the their situation – not one I would like to experience. I liked how their characters developed and the relationship they were forced to make.

From a medical and lawful point of view I felt this was very well dealt with. Siobhan, the police officer was a lovely character; and bigamy being a crime I think O’Flanagan was realistic in her approach. As for the coma, I felt that this was explored well. The emotions of the family seemed realistic and O’Flanagan also wrote what was going on in Frank’s mind, which was very interesting.

I think the ending was a bit of a cop-out to be honest. It was an easy way to finish the story, and this let the book down a bit. However, the rest of the story was great and I really enjoyed it.

3.5/5

Waterstone’s Synopsis:

Two eavesdropping train passengers learn more than they bargained for about their own love lives; an office-party fling has unforeseen consequences for a young woman and for a marriage; a suburban housewife is forced to face her past when her estranged mother, famous and exotic, makes contact after many years; an office worker who imagines herself an undercover agent finds her commute to work livened up by the daily sightings of a handsome stranger…whose life she decides to investigate; an adopted woman journeys to meet the woman who gave her up all those years ago, and finds that all is not what she imagined!

This is a book full of short stories. Each story focuses on a passenger of the Dart. Some stories involved people from other stories, others were stand-alone stories. None were very long but I found them all readable, making this a quick read.

I have never read Sheila O’Flanagan and I will read her work again. I found the book enjoyable and easy to read. All the stories were gripping but I did find that some of them were not finished to my liking. There was one story about domestic violence and I thought that the resolution was too predictable and that the issue was not really looked into. There were other stories I would like to read as long stories too.

This is chick-lit and was enjoyable. I would have liked more depth in some of the stories but this was a quick book to read and I liked how O’Flanagan wrote. The stories are generally full of love and friendship and they were nice reads. If you want a quick, chick-lit book to read, this is for you.

8/10